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Vegetarians are people who do not eat meat, fish or poultry. A person can be a vegetarian for a number of reasons like religion, ethics, culture, a diet plan, taste or health. And someone might just do it because it’s considered a good thing to do.
A number of nutritional benefits come with a vegetarian diet, starting with low cholesterol and saturated fat and high quantity of carbohydrates, fiber, roughage, magnesium, potassium & antioxidants such as vitamin C & vitamin E.
There are different types of vegetarians. Some don’t eat meat but eat dairy products and eggs. Some people don’t even have eggs or milk. And some take either milk or egg.
Being vegetarian for some is not only to stop eating animal meat but also stop using any animal product. Any thing that has animal parts or even that is animal tested, like leather, silk, honey, wool and fur.
A vegetarian diet has been found to be a healthy diet and a person following it has a low risk of cancer, heart diseases by keeping the body weight under control or any other fatal diseases and it has also been found that a vegetarian person has less risk of stomach, breast or prostate cancer and cerebral vascular diseases. But it is vital to have a well planned and balanced diet. A proper vegetarian diet can provide all the necessary nutrients a body needs at all stages of life. If you want to become a vegetarian you have to be very careful and have a balance diet. And take the proper supplements for example Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D. Vitamin B12 can be obtained from dairy products, eggs or from fortified food and dietary supplements.
Make sure you diet contains –
Grains & cereals – About 6 - 12 serving a day.
Make sure that you diet contains a lot of whole grains and cereals. Select as much whole grains as you can, like brown rice, millet or barley and whole grain bread and cereals. You can also add a slice of bread, pasta or white rice.
Vegetables – At least 3 - 4 servings or more would be good.
Pick the vegetables that are green and colorful. Include a lot of leafy veggies have a high level of fiber. You can have them as you like cooked, boiled or as salads. Have red and yellow bell peppers which are rich in Vitamin C also Brussels sprouts. Include folic acid, vitamin E and magnesium. Have mushrooms for Vitamin D and of course sunlight. So don’t forget to add a variety of veggies to your diet they all have different properties. And keep the saturated fat to minimum. Have an additional glass or more of vegetable or fruit juice.
Fruits – 2-3 servings
Have a variety of fruits. Apple, banana, oranges, melons and any fruit you wish. Have about a glass of fruit juice. Make sure you have a lot of citrus fruits like orange, guava, kiwi, mango, strawberries and papaya they are rich in Vitamin C. It helps adsorb iron and improves immunity against cold. Also add some dry fruits to your diet like cashew nuts and raisins they are rich in iron.
Dairy Products & Substitute for Dairy Products
If milk is ok for you to have then make sure you include a bit of all the dairy products in your daily diet. Have milk, cheese, yoghurt, butter.
You can substitute you milk or dairy products with Soya milk, tofu, and green veggies like beans, broccoli, okra, molasses and green weed. Have soy lupin, buckwheat, quinoa, brown rice, hummus, beans, whole wheat pita, chia seed and hempseed are all rich in amino acid so you can gain the protein. Also add almonds, walnuts and figs. Walnuts are rich in fatty acid along with pumpkin seed. Also a lot of calcium fortified orange juice. Because you need to cover for all the calcium you miss out on the dairy products. So make sure to have a calcium rich diet.
For iron supplements have black beans, kidney beans, lentils, oatmeal, black eyed peas, soybeans, breakfast cereals, sunflower seeds, chickpeas, veggie burgers, tomato juice and whole wheat bread. It is important to include a lot of iron content because iron deficiency is common in vegetarians.
